Summer Skin
by Syrinx
Summary: Water fights have an interesting way of escalating into something else. potential Brad/Ash, during Ashleigh’s Dream
1. Chapter 1

Summer Skin  
By Syrinx  
Summary: Water fights have an interesting way of escalating into something else.  
Disclaimer: All rights to the Thoroughbred series belong to Joanna Campbell and Harper Collins.  
A/N: potential Brad/Ash, during Ashleigh's Dream

The late August sun filtered through the thick canopy of green leaves, making the trees glow as beams of light shot down to the forest floor. A slender river snaked along nearby, running low after a month of dry weather and sweltering heat. It bubbled over sleek river stones and rushed over an unexpected overhang, pattering along a large flat boulder at the bottom before slipping down into a deep, cool pool that seemed to never go dry.

This was the hot spot for most employees at Townsend Acres when the summer months became unbearable. After long shifts, the swimming hole would be a scene of chaos and splashing figures. People would sit under the spray of the waterfall, lift their faces to the falling water and rinse away the dirt and muck that had accumulated through the day.

Ashleigh Griffen was lucky to find the place quiet on the last week of August; she hadn't wanted to deal with such a scene after the events of the past few days. It was amazing how quickly things could change. With one swift decision her entire life was forced into rearrangement. She hadn't felt exactly this way since she'd moved to Townsend Acres, and while the thought that she'd acclimated in order to love her new life, she wasn't sure she'd be able to react the same way a second time around.

With a flustered sigh, Ashleigh stretched out on the gaudy beach towel she'd brought with her, letting her damp, bare limbs dry in the hot air. Linda March lay on her stomach next to her on her own towel, chin propped on crossed arms and sunglasses perched on the tip of her nose.

"That doesn't sound good," Linda said, glancing at Ashleigh over the top of the sunglasses.

"It's so many levels of not good," Ashleigh said, shaking her head before turning to look at Linda. "I devastated Sammy this morning, Linda. She looked like I punched her in the stomach."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Linda said. "The situation is completely out of your hands, and she knows that."

"Yeah," Ashleigh frowned. "That doesn't make me feel much better."

Linda smiled sympathetically. "Have you finalized the plans for the horses?"

"I talked to Mr. Townsend this morning," Ashleigh said. "Goddess can stay in training here, and I know there's no way I could move Wonder and Pride. Even if I could, Pride would just be shipping back to Townsend Acres in a year to start training anyway."

"Start looking forward to the long commute, Ash," Linda chuckled, then sobered when Ashleigh's frown only deepened. "At least Sammy and Charlie will still be your eyes and ears while you're gone, though. And I know Mr. Townsend will hire on competent people to take care of Wonder."

"I know," Ashleigh nodded. "I guess I'm being too much of a mother hen."

"No you're not," Linda said, propping herself up on her elbows to give Ashleigh a commanding stare. "What gave you that idea? With Brad running around exerting his influence over the farm and all things in it, you've got everything to worry about."

Ashleigh pursed her lips and nodded, already well resigned to the fact that a good portion of her life would be spent bouncing between farms and tracks. She had known this would eventually happen, but certainly not so soon. Accepting co-ownership of Wonder and all her future foals had been a blessing, but now that she was dealing with the ramifications of tying herself financially to Townsend Acres and Brad for what would probably be the rest of her life, she was starting to see the down side of owning Wonder.

Rolling her eyes at herself, Ashleigh told herself to get over it. There was no way she'd ever consider a life without Wonder and her babies a better one, even if it did happen to be free of Brad.

"I guess I think I'm being too naïve about things," Ashleigh frowned. "I knew my parents wanted their own place, and I knew owning Wonder with Brad right there burning about it would be difficult, and now I don't want to deal with it at all."

"But you are dealing with it, Ashleigh," Linda said. "You'll do what you need to. What's with this attitude anyway? I knew you were upset about things, but I didn't think you were this down about everything."

Ashleigh looked down at the towel, absently picking at a few of the brightly colored threads.

"It's nothing," she finally said. "Just, after I got off the phone with you last night I called Mike and I guess he just got flustered with me."

"Oh, Ash," Linda said softly. "What happened?"

"You know," Ashleigh laughed humorlessly. "I think it was our first fight. We just couldn't see eye to eye on the whole moving thing. He kept referencing Samantha and even how he'd moved to Whitebrook, and how I'd make things work so I shouldn't be this worried."

"And?" Linda prompted.

"I blew up at him and we argued over things that had no relevance to the conversation," Ashleigh sighed.

"Did you clear it up?" Linda asked.

"I guess we both chalked it up to being tired after coming home from Saratoga," Ashleigh shrugged. "But otherwise, no."

Then, like clockwork, someone jumped into the swimming hole from above, sending a fan of water up and onto the girls. With a yelp, Linda scrambled away from the edge of the water, but didn't avoid getting hit by the wave as it splattered over the beach towels. Already damp anyway, Ashleigh propped herself on her elbows and glared as the new arrival came up for air.

She'd expected one of the farm employees, but when Ashleigh finally saw the boy's face she was surprised to see Ethan Parcher, the one and only heir to Black Mountain Stud, which wouldn't have meant much to Ashleigh except for the knowledge that Black Mountain was one of the best breeding operations in the state, and her parents practically went starry-eyed at the mere mention of the place.

"Sorry about that, ladies," the boy in question drawled as he made a few lazy strokes to the edge of the pool. He approached slowly, taking time to tread water and shake the water drops out of his sandy blond hair.

Linda and Ashleigh stared at him in mute aggravation, neither saying anything as he came to a stop in front of them, treading water evenly with a toothy grin on his face.

"Now, who might you two be?" he asked, making Ashleigh raise an eyebrow before someone else overhead caught her attention.

"Quit preening, Parcher!" a laughing, and very recognizable, voice boomed from above. Then two more figures jumped down from above, one of them looking very distinctly like Brad Townsend.

Water went everywhere, practically leaping out of the swimming hole and onto both girls, drenching everything that Ethan hadn't managed to get wet the first time around. After that Linda was setting out to gather up her things, pulling up the soaked towel and throwing her shoulder-length hair into a sloppy, frazzled ponytail.

Ashleigh, on the other hand, sat transfixed. She leaned back on her hands and folded her deeply tanned legs up against her body, as though shielding herself from any prying eyes. Ethan was at her feet, clearly interested in having them stay by the way he was entreating to Linda to put down the towel and jump into the water.

Ashleigh ignored him, being more interested in the figures cutting through the water behind him.

"Ashleigh," Linda sighed, giving Ethan a scathing glare before focusing on her friend and using short, select words. "Come on, Ash."

"Going so soon, Griffen?" Brad asked, swimming up to the edge and putting his hands flat on the hot rock, lifting himself out of the water. Ashleigh followed him up until she met his eyes, and seeing just exactly where he was looking she rolled her eyes and stood up, meeting his gaze.

"Exactly what are you doing here, Brad?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and trying not to feel like they weren't both practically half-naked and she was being looked up and down by his grinning friends.

"My father owns the land," Brad said simply. "Do I need another reason for being here?"

"I was referring more to what are you doing in Kentucky rather than here in my immediate presence," Ashleigh replied.

"It's Labor Day weekend, sweetheart," Brad replied scathingly. "Do I need to apply for admission with you to come home for national holidays?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Ashleigh said, narrowing her eyes.

"Could say the same to you, Ash," Brad replied.

"Come on, boys and girls," Ethan called from his vantage point in the water. "This place is big enough for all of us."

Brad smirked at that, and Ashleigh huffed, both knowing full well that if a place like Townsend Acres wasn't big enough for the two of them, sharing a place like this would be like being locked together in the same room.

"Stay," the boy Ashleigh didn't recognize called out. "Really, we won't bite."

Linda raised an eyebrow at that and looked to Ashleigh, whom glanced over her shoulder at her friend. Both knew full well what making comments like that truly meant, and Ashleigh wasn't looking forward to having to deal with the wild card Brad and Ethan had tagging at their heels. Then Brad did something surprising, and touched the tips of his fingers to the underside of her wrist, just brushing lightly to get her attention. Ashleigh jumped like she'd been burned.

"Look, I won't run you off," Brad said. "I'll stay on our side," he said, nodding to the rocks on the other side of the swimming hole. "You stay on yours. It's hot as hell out, Griffen. I'm not leaving."

"Fine," Ashleigh said, eager to show that she wouldn't be easily run off.

"Want to shake on it?" Brad asked, tilting his head in what Ashleigh knew he thought was a cute gesture. Ashleigh regarded him warily and accepted the hand he was stretching toward her. A firm handshake later and Brad was back in the water and Ashleigh was sitting on her towel, unsure of what to do.

Miffed, Linda spread her soaked towel down haphazardly next to Ashleigh's and laid down on it, giving Ashleigh a look that clearly stated her thoughts.

"Sorry," Ashleigh mouthed in Linda's direction, and her friend just shrugged and picked at the wet cloth beneath her.

"I'm going to give my towel some time to dry off," Linda said, standing up as suddenly as she'd lain down. "Want to come?"

Ashleigh glanced out at the three boys having a water fight in the far end of the pool and shrugged. "Sure," she said. "My towel could use some time in the sun."

With that both girls jumped into the swimming hole, splashing into the cool water. Ashleigh loved that feeling, dunking down to what seemed like a bottomless void, completely immersed in chilled liquid as she floated up to the surface. She broke with a smile, putting her hands to her hair to smooth back the errant strands and wipe the water from her eyes.

The two girls floated separate from the boys, whom were locked in their individual water wars. Linda finally smiled at the situation, swimming closer to Ashleigh to ask whom she thought the third boy was, as neither could place him.

"Haven't a clue," Ashleigh shook her head, glancing quickly in their direction to try to place a name to the face. She couldn't figure it out, however, and with Brad conveniently forgetting introductions she was left to assume the only thing she could – that the nameless boy was most likely wealthy and may or may not be involved in Thoroughbreds.

That was when the water fight dramatically shifted, and Ashleigh found herself scampering to avoid it, diving under water and surfacing near her bank of rocks, where she climbed out easily and stood watching with a scowl while Linda clambered up next to her.

"You two," Ethan said, climbing up after them, violating Brad and Ashleigh's terms. "You both need to unwind a little."

"Thanks for the advice," Linda said, and Ethan smiled at her.

"Hey, be on my team," he said, and Linda just stared at him.

"What team?" Ashleigh asked.

"Come on. The blonde, me and John over there," Ethan said, pointing to the boy neither girl could place. "And you and Brad," Ethan said, pointing to Ashleigh.

"Doesn't that seem a little lopsided?" Linda asked.

"Is there a point to this?" Ashleigh added, and Ethan laughed.

"Come on," he said. "What water war has a point?"

"Yeah," Ashleigh said, and sighed. "Sure. Let's go."

Ethan gave them an award winning smile and jumped into the swimming hole, followed closely by Ashleigh and Linda. By some miracle, Ashleigh surfaced next to Brad and told him upfront she was on his team. The look on his face cost for valuable time when the splashes started.

Naturally, much of their time spent as a team was spent bickering. Even at something as ridiculous as a water war, Ashleigh quickly grew tired of the orders Brad was throwing at her and simply slipped under the water, diving down several feet until she felt a hand wrap around her ankle and yank.

Sputtering to the surface, Ashleigh collided with a body she hadn't expected. John, the previously nameless third wheel, let go of her ankle and moved his hands to her bare waist.

"Yeah, you can stop that," Ashleigh said, putting a firm hand to his chest and pushing against his hold. Unfortunately, she had zero leverage to work with and could feel a bubble of panic rise in her throat when he hauled her below the water.

There was a part of Ashleigh that recognized being dunked in the pool by a boy was some unexplainable form of flirting. However, as she looked up at the sunlight glimmering on the surface of the water, Ashleigh was far from feeling affectionate toward the owner of the hands gripping her waist.

Before even thinking it through, Ashleigh did the first thing that came to her mind. She stopped frantically kicking her legs and jerked her knee up. Within seconds she was released and she scissor-kicked up to the surface, breaking through the water with a gasp for air.

John surfaced nearby, none too happy and, judging by the red flush to his face, bordering on extremely angry.

"What the hell was that?" he asked, swimming toward her.

"Did I have a sign on my forehead that said I wanted to be shoved under?" Ashleigh asked vehemently, treading water where she was.

"Wait a minute," Linda called, moving toward him as he headed toward Ashleigh. Just before John reached for her, Brad was suddenly there, grabbing his wrist and pulling him away.

"Hey," Brad said evenly, pushing John back as Ashleigh took the opportunity to backpedal and let the boys figure things out amongst themselves. Brad had stationed himself between her and John, and Ashleigh wasn't going to mill around waiting for the outcome of their confrontation. "You don't do that," Brad stated simply, shoving John's arm back to the water.

"Don't do what, Townsend?" John spat. "You saw what she did."

"Yeah, I also saw you fucking touching her," Brad countered.

"Look, man," John said, still beat red and irate. "If she's something you don't want anyone else touching…"

"Shut up before you say something you regret," Brad interrupted, glaring evenly at the other boy as Linda sent a confused glance toward Ashleigh.

"What, you want me to pretend that she's not the little sister that you've…"

In a sudden and frightening second, Brad's fist connected with John's mouth, sending the other boy sprawling back into the water. Linda let out a shocked cry, and Ashleigh stared on in mute astonishment as the scuffle broke out in the middle of the swimming hole.

Both boy landed a solid punch before Ethan managed to restrain John, pulling him to the far end of the pool as Ashleigh quickly swam toward them, cutting off Brad before he managed to corner both of his friends in his anger.

"Brad," Ashleigh said, putting a hand to his bare chest and getting close enough to shock him into stopping. He looked at her curiously, and then with a glint to his eye that Ashleigh couldn't remember seeing there before. She swallowed nervously and looked behind her at Ethan and John, then to Linda, who had her hands covering her mouth. When she turned back to Brad he'd eased back, no longer letting her touch him and his face set in a careful collection of easy lines.

"We'll leave, okay?" Ashleigh offered, noticing the red swelling spreading around Brad's right eye. "This didn't need to happen and…" she trailed off, taken aback that she was so close to him, staring him straight in the eye from no more than inches away. She swallowed and straightened her back. "We'll leave."

"Good idea, Griffen," he replied curtly, shifting forward and making Ashleigh involuntarily shift back. He smirked as if on instinct.

Carefully, Ashleigh eased away and swam quickly back to her towel and Linda, whom was already hastily picking up her things. Ashleigh did the same, throwing her towel over her arm and picking up her tote bag. With a quick glance at Brad, whom wasn't looking at her, she set off after Linda, hiking up the makeshift stone stairs and into the forest for home.

As soon as they got out of earshot, Linda turned toward Ashleigh, and without stopping she asked, "What on earth did you do to Brad?"

Ashleigh pulled up short for a split second, digging her toes into the soft material of her flip-flops. She shook her head, unsure of what to say as his behavior had been the last thing on earth she could have expected.

"I have no idea," Ashleigh answered truthfully, and glanced in the direction of the swimming hole. She stared in that direction for a moment, wondering what had happened and why, finding no answers. Then, wordlessly, she turned back to the trail, leading the way toward home.


	2. Chapter 2

The group of weanlings thundered across the paddock, their earthy hues clouded by the dust they kicked up when they ran. Two of the young horses broke off from the group, bucking and twisting, nipping at each other's shoulders and shuddering to a stop to engage in mock battle.

Ashleigh stood by the fence and watched with a smile on her lips. The chestnut, Wonder's Pride, pushed the slighter, but lively bay filly, who whipped around and sent a kick in his direction. Pride dodged artfully, allowing the filly a chance to sprint away before he took off in full pursuit. The two tore by the fence, the lighter filly keeping her lead and reentering the group of weanlings before Pride could overtake her.

The young horses were just what Ashleigh needed. They provided a familiar feeling of comfort in the rapidly changing scenery, and she found herself watching Pride and feeling less enthusiastic about his growing limbs and hopes, wishing he'd stay small. If she could have frozen time after he was born she would have. That April, before her parents decided to move, before she decided to purchase Fleet Goddess, before she confronted Mike about why he never quite believed in her, was a high point of her life.

Now it was September. The summer was ending. Mike was in New York with Jazzman, and they hadn't talked once in the course of the past week. Her parents were settling into their new home across town, cheerful and energetic with the prospect of setting up their new stables. Fleet Goddess had pulled a tendon in her last work, knocking her out of much of the autumn races. Ashleigh was left with little to do but watch Pride grow up, and half the time she wished he wouldn't.

How silly she was being. Ashleigh sighed, glancing up from the weanlings to the empty white house that could be seen through a screen of trees on the other side of the paddocks. A pang of homesickness hit her suddenly and uncomfortably, making her push from the fence and walk in the opposite direction of the house she'd called home. It wasn't her home; the farm wasn't her home. She hated change, she realized, but there wasn't much to be done about that.

Walking along the fence, down the grassy aisles she used to ride Wonder over when she was a wiry thirteen-year-old, Ashleigh managed to let herself dwell on Mike. They weren't broken up – not yet. After Goddess won her race he'd apologized to her during the celebration afterward, and while Ashleigh had accepted she didn't know if she was over it. Mike out of everyone should have known what the support of others meant to her. When Wonder had raced she would have gotten nowhere without Charlie, who'd stuck with her through every challenge presented to them. Mike casually didn't believe in getting your hopes too high. Now she was afraid he'd doubted her from the beginning.

She walked and thought, coming to conclusions and then backtracking. The grassy aisles became maintenance trails and then dwindled to narrow footpaths up to the stream that cut through the property. Ashleigh figured it was so dry the water in the swimming hole would only be a shallow pool of mud and rocks, but she was pleasantly surprised to see the waterfall still pattering quietly and the stream continuing a steady, if significantly smaller flow. The water level was well below where she normally liked to sit, so she climbed down to the stream bed, walking across the dry pebbles and smooth rocks to the water's edge.

It hadn't rained since a freak storm in the beginning of the month, but the water was still deep enough to swim in. Ashleigh studied it for a moment before deciding to take off her shoes and socks, dipping her toes into the cool water before deciding to hell with it and shucking off her jeans and yanking her shirt over her head. She dropped the clothes on one of the flat rocks behind her and stepped into the water, wading out to her waist and then slipping under the surface.

She hoped rather than expected that no one would happen across her. The temperature was in the high eighties, a day for the swimming hole if ever there was one, but the stream was barely moving and the Keeneland September sale had most of the grooms occupied. She swam in peace for several moments, treading water in the deepest section of the pool and floating with her face turned up to the sky.

Ashleigh hadn't been back to the stream for some time, avoiding it if at all possible. It was easy now, with her time so divided between home and the horses. Relaxing anywhere felt like an impossibility; spending time with outside of school or work just didn't happen anymore. So the swimming hole was out of her life, although it had been since she and Brad had tried to share it between themselves. She often wondered about that moment, wondered why thinking about it sent a shiver up her spine.

Sighing, she slipped under the surface. _Don't think about it_, she told herself. _It was nothing. This is the last time you'll do this. Forget. _

When she came up for air, she turned around to look down the nearly dry stream bed and felt a shriek climb up her throat before she could stop herself.

Standing next to her clothes, looking mildly amused if not extremely curious, was Brad. Of course it was Brad. Who else had nothing to do on the farm these days? She put a hand to her mouth, cutting off her shocked cry.

Brad looked down at her clothes, but seemed much more interested in watching her. The corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk. "Just couldn't help yourself?" he asked.

"Do you mind?" Ashleigh asked, ignoring his question. He chuckled.

"Come on, Ash," he said. "We managed to share nicely last time."

Ashleigh just gave him a look. Last time she hadn't been in her underwear, and last time he'd gotten into a fistfight that had left him with a black eye for a week afterward. He hadn't spoken to her since, as if the whole ordeal had been her fault.

"I'm not," she started to say before stuttered to a stop when he kicked off his sandals and started to pull off his shirt. She watched, mortified, as he tugged the t-shirt over his head and tossed it carelessly next to her things. Then he was in the water and under the surface, and Ashleigh was pretty sure she would die of humiliation right then and there.

He came to the surface nearby, shaking water from his eyes and raking his fingers through his wet hair. Ashleigh stared at him balefully. He was smiling.

"This isn't funny," she stated.

"I don't know about that," he said, looking over at her. She realized with some annoyance that he could reach the bottom. She shifted around until she felt a rock that she could perch on that left everything below her shoulders carefully submerged. For an extra measure of defense she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You don't have any friends that are going to come popping out of nowhere," Ashleigh assumed, and he shook his head.

"It's just you and me," he replied, his smile broadening.

"Stop it," Ashleigh demanded. "God, can't you just go back to college like normal people? Haven't you started yet?"

"Not until this Monday," Brad said. "No sense going to Chicago today, especially when I stumble onto something like this."

"You're not going to tell anyone about this," Ashleigh insisted, trying for persuasive and coming off as anything but. Of course he was going to tell people about this, although for the record he hadn't said much about how he'd gotten that black eye. She had to give him credit for that. This, however, was a completely different problem.

"Oh no?" he asked, moving through the water toward her. Ashleigh briefly considered scrambling off her rock, but there wasn't anywhere she could go. "The Ashleigh Griffen caught with her pants down. Oh, no, I'm sorry. Caught with them off. That's a pretty good story, if you ask me."

"It's not a story at all," Ashleigh told him.

"Yeah, you're right," Brad said, although his smile didn't dim. "It needs a punch line. Luckily I'm here to provide that."

"Right," Ashleigh scoffed. "What's this fantastic piece of fiction going to be about?"

"Don't know," Brad said, stopping a few feet from her. "We'll need to work on the true story first."

"How about this for true story?" Ashleigh asked. "You turn around, I get dressed, and I leave."

"Do you really trust me to comply with that?" Brad asked. Ashleigh sighed, supposing she really didn't know what she could trust Brad with. So she perched on her rock and kept her arms crossed, staring at him as they lapsed into silence.


End file.
